According to Clayton, this is an old (late 19th or early 20th century) Shaker recipe. It bakes up a lovely, fine-crumbed white loaf. I appreciate the ease with which it comes together. And, while not nearly as rich as something like a brioche, the milk, lard, and hint of sugar does give it a nice little something extra.

Since I've been struggling to keep up with my starter lately, I opted to add a bit of discard into my dough. Feel free to omit this and just use a little extra flour and water instead though if, unlike me, you don't have a huge pile of starter/discard looking for a purpose.

Sister Virginia's Daily Loaf

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 1 c. water
• 1 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. lard
• 800g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 120g sourdough discard
• 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Combine water, milk, sugar, salt, and lard and gently warm to 40-45°C.
2. Combine the flour and yeast and mix well.
3. Add the starter to the wet ingredients.
4. Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry while stirring with a dough hook or a wooden spoon.
5. Knead by hook for 7-8 minutes or by hand for 20-30.
6. Round, cover, and allow to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes (depending on temperature of room).
7. Knock back, divide into two equal portions, round each portion, cover, and rest for 10 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, grease two 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
9. Shape each dough ball into a loaf and place, seam-side-down, into the prepared loaf pans.
10. Cover and allow to rise at room temperature for another 45-60 minutes (depending on temperature).
11. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and brush tops of loaves with melted butter.
12. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-40 minutes.
13. Turn out onto wire racks to cool.

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Variants

Non-Instant Yeast Version

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. warm water (~40°C)
• 2 1/4 tsp. acitve dry yeast
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. lard
• 860g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Sprinkle yeast into warm water. Set aside for 5-10 minutes.
2. Proceed with recipe as directed, adding yeast mixture to dough along with other wet ingredients.

I picked up a discount bag of zucchini at the grocery store yesterday. Which was handy because it made for the perfect side dish to go with our dinner. Very quick, very easy, very simple, but still pretty tasty. Although I did significantly reduce the oil (from 1/3 c. down to 3 Tbsp.) and I think, if I were doing it again, I'd cut it back even further. Even 3 Tbsp. seemed like a lot. If I'd used the full 1/3 it would have been absolutely swimming in oil! It was good otherwise though, so I'll give it a pass.

Sautéed Zucchini

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 900g zucchini
• 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1cm thick pieces.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat.
3. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the zucchini and sauté until just tender (~5 minutes).
5. Add the basil and cook for another minute or so.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

We had a surplus of mint and strawberries were on sale this week, so this low-effort dessert seemed like a natural fit.

Macerated Strawberries with Lemon and Mint

From Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 450g strawberries, hulled and quartered (or sliced)
• 2-4 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to a bowl and toss to combine.
2. Let stand for at least 15 minutes, then serve.

This is another recipe from my backlog that didn't get written up right away. So, as with so many of the others, I don't remember it very well. But I'm going to try to write it up anyway for completeness sake.

Garlicky Shrimp and Kale Sauté

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 450g shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1 orange
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 300g chopped frozen kale
• 6 cloves garlic, minced and divided
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, divided
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 Tbsp. minced flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Toss shrimp with 1 tsp. of the salt and set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Zest and juice the orange.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add the kale, half the garlic, 1/4 tsp. of the pepper flakes, and remaining 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt and sauté until wilted (3-4 minutes).
5. Transfer kale to a plate and sprinkle with orange zest.
6. Add the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil to the pan.
7. Add the shrimp, remaining garlic, remaining 1/4 tsp. pepper flakes, and the bay leaf and sauté until shrimp turns opaque (1-2 minutes).
8. Add the orange juice and cook for another minute or so.
9. Top the kale with the shrimp and any pan juices.
10. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

I haven't been buying fish lately because it's failed to be on sale. But it's been a while since we've had any and I felt like we were overdue, so I got a bit of salmon anyway. It went nicely with the soup. And the fried chickpeas that I did as a side dish actually made nice "croutons" for it.

Zucchini Soup with Roasted Salmon

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 680g salmon fillets
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 900g zucchini, chopped
• 2 c. vegetable stock
• 30-40g pecorino romano, grated
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced

Directions

1. Brush salmon with a little of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Heat remaining oil over medium heat.
3. Add shallots and garlic and cook until softened (4-5 minutes).
4. Add zucchini, season with a bit of salt and pepper, and cook until it begins to soften as well (~4 minutes).
5. Add stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat slightly, and simmer until zucchini is tender (~15 minutes).
6. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and roast salmon until cooked through (10-12 minutes).
7. When zucchini is tender, use an immersion blender to puré (or process in standard blender jar in batches).
8. Add the cheese and lemon juice and stir to combine.
9. Adjust seasoning to taste.
10. Serve soup topped with salmon and sprinkled with lemon zest.

TF and the Kidlet both seemed to really like these. I thought they were okay, but not amazing on their own. I think they work better added to other things. I had a bunch of them in my soup and that was very good.

Fried Chickpeas

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 (~470g) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• corn or peanut oil, for frying
• 3-4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 6 fresh sage leaves¹
• 1/8 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies
• coarse sea salt, ground

Directions

1. After draining and rinsing the chickpeas, dry them off as best you can.²
2. Pour some oil into a wok and heat to ~190°C (375°F).
3. Add the garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add ~1/3 of the chickpeas and 2 of the sage leaves and fry for 4-5 minutes.
5. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with remaining chickpeas and sage in two batches.
6. Sprinkle with ground chilies and season to taste with salt.

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¹ I was all out of fresh sage, so I swapped in 1/2 Tbsp. dried sage instead. ^Back
2 The recipe suggests doing this with paper towels, but, since I was preheating the oven for another recipe anyway, I just opted to spreak the chickpeas out on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven while it was preheating. I found this much easier than trying to mess around with paper towels. ^Back

Breakfast Burritos (Breakfast Bible)

I've been meaning to make these for a while. But I really wanted to try to do them with ground chicken and sweet potato rather than the chorizo and russet potatoes called for in the recipe. But, in the end, I didn't end up going with either of those combinations. TF had a hankering for breakfast sausage. And I had a few red potatoes that needed to be used up. So I made it with those instead. I do think the red potatoes were a little too waxy for this dish though. So next time I'd either go with the russets or try it with sweets.

I do think that it would have been nice with a few greens and maybe a bit of sour cream. And we also added a bit of mild cheddar and swapped out the guac for plain avocado. (Mostly because cheese is delicious and because I had an avocado that needed to be used up and didn't feel like making guacamole this morning.) Overall though, it worked out pretty well. It's a forgiving recipe that allows for a lot of variation and experimentation.

Breakfast Burritos

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 russet potatoes, grated
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 190g sausage (chorizo, breakfast, or chicken), casings removed
• 8 large eggs
• 1/4 c. milk
• 4-6 large flour tortillas, warm
• 1 c. cooked black beans, warm
• 1/2 c. shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese
• 1/2 c. guacamole or avocado
• 1/2 c. salsa or pico de gallo
• 1/4 c. sour cream (optional)
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Directions

1. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat.
2. Wring grated potato out as best you can using paper towels or a clean tea towel.
3. Add potatoes and pat into an even layer. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with remaining 1/2 Tbsp. of oil.
4. Cook until underside is crisp (~6 minutes).
5. Flip and cook until the other side is crisp as well (~6 minutes longer). Transfer to a plate and set aside.
6. Add sausage to pan and cook until done (5-6 minutes). Transfer to a plate and set aside.
7. Beat eggs with milk and season with salt and pepper.
8. Drain off all but ~1 tsp. of fat from the pan, reduce heat to medium-low and pour in eggs.
9. Cook until bottom beings to set 1-2 minutes, then stir.
10. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until eggs are set.
11. Place a few scrambled eggs, some beans, potatoes, sausage, cheese, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, and cilantro (if using) in the centre of each tortilla.
12. Fold up top and bottom edges and then roll to form a burrito.

Asparagus and prosciutto are a great combination. They're great on their own. And they also work very well together in other dishes like pasta or this easy frittata.

Asparagus & Prosciutto Frittata

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 250g asparagus, trimmed and cut into 5cm pieces
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 100g prosciutto, chopped
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan
• 10 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Steam the asparagus until just tender.
3. Heat olive oil over medium heat.
4. Add onion and season with salt and pepper.
5. Cook until softened (~6 minutes).
6. Add garlic and cook for another minute or two.
7. Add asparagus and prosciutto and spread into an even layer.
8. Beat eggs with milk and cheese and season with salt and pepper.
9. Pour into pan and cook, without stirring, for 2 minutes.
10. Transfer to oven and bake until eggs are set (~12 minutes).
11. If top is not quite done, place under broiler for a minute or two.
12. Invert onto plate, cut into wedges, and serve.

I had gotten these parsnips with the intent of making a carrot and parsnip salad. But it requires harissa. And I keep dropping the ball on actually making the harissa for it. And the parsnips have already been in the fridge for over a week at this point. So I decided that maybe it was better to do this simple roast parsnip recipe to use them up instead. Maybe I can make some harissa for the next batch of parsnips that I get.

Curried Roasted Parsnips

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 450g parsnips, peeled and cut into 5mm thick coins
• 1 tsp. Madras curry powder
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Place butter in a roasting pan and put the pan in the oven while it preheats. Keep an eye on it to make sure the butter doesn't burn.
3. Once butter is melted, add the parsnips and toss to coat.
4. Add the curry powder, salt, and pepper and toss to coat.
5. Roast at 200°C (400°F) for 45 minutes, stirring and flipping every 15 minutes.

Lemongrass Chicken Stir-Fry

I think I probably would have liked this Vietnamese-inspired stir-fry a bit more with some veggies in it. I think some thinly sliced carrot would have been a nice addition. But it was still very tasty as-is. The marinade and sauce were both excellent. I just would have liked to have had a little veg incorporated into it. That said, I do appreciate how easily it came together. So I'm not complaining.

Lemongrass Chicken Stiry-Fry

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Marinade

• 2 shallots, quartered
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 fresh green Thai, serrano, or finger chile
• 2 stalks lemongrass, white part only
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. corn (or other neutral) oil
• 2-3 Tbsp. water

Sauce

• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 tsp. rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground

Stir-Fry

• 680g skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 Tbsp. corn or peanut (or other high smoke point) oil, divided
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced on bias (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh Thai basil

Directions

1. Combine shallots, garlic, ginger paste, chile, lemongrass, salt, and oil in a blender or food processor and purée. Add as much of the water as needed to blend the mixture.
2. Add the marinade to the chicken and toss to combine. Cover and chill for 1-24 hours.
3. Combine the soy sauce, fish sauce, vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, and pepper and mix well. Set aside.
4. Heat a wok over medium-high heat.
5. Drizzle in 1/2 Tbsp. of the oil.
6. Add the onion and stir-fry until softened (2-3 minutes). Transfer to a plate and set aside.
7. Drizzle in another 1/2 Tbsp. of oil.
8. Add the carrot (if using).
9. Stir-fry until just cooked (2-3 minutes). Transfer to plate and set aside.
10. Drizzle in the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil.
11. Add the chicken, a few pieces at a time, and stir-fry until cooked through (5-6 minutes).
12. Add the sauce and return the veggies to the wok and stir-fry until sauce thickens (1-2 minutes).
13. Sprinkle with basil and serve.

I'm digging pretty deep into my backlog again with this one. I can't even remember exactly when I made this. But it's in my notes and it does sound at least vaguely familiar. So I'm going to do a write-up for it before it gets lost entirely.

I have been doing better at not letting recipes slip through the cracks the last couple of years. But that still doesn't mean that I always write them up promptly. I'm now just getting to them eventually rather than not at all. (And I am at least getting to most of them somewhat promptly.) It's a definitely improvement. It's just not completely consistent yet. Even so... I feel pretty good about the effort we've put in the last couple years! Over 340 posts last year and, while I don't think we're on track to beat that this year, we might manage to break 300, which is still pretty darn good.

And here is a soba noodle salad recipe from who-knows-when to help get us there.

Soba Noodle Salad with Sugar Snap Peas

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 450g soba noodles or whole wheat spaghetti
• 150g sugar snap peas, trimmed and halved diagonally
• 3-4 small carrots, julienned
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh mint
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 3cm piece of ginger, minced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 4 tsp. rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/3 c. natural peanut butter (preferably chunky)
• 1/2 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
• 1-2 green onions, thinly sliced (optional)

Directions

1. Cook the noodles according to package directions adding carrots and peas ~2 minutes before they're done.
2. Drain noodles and vegetables and add cilantro and mint.
3. Heat oil over medium heat.
4. Add ginger and garlic and cook for ~1 minute.
5. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, pepper flakes, peanut butter, and stock and stir to combine.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Reduce heat to low and simmer until thick (5-7 minutes).
8. Pour dressing over noodle mixture and toss to coat.
9. Allow to cool, sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onion (if using), then serve.

I feel a bit bad about this one. Not only has it taken me months to get it written up¹, but I poisoned a house guest with it. So, you know, not my finest moment.

Let me explain. The dish itself was fine. But he has a sensitivity to vegetables in the nightshade family. Most notably tomatoes and peppers. He can handle tomatoes that are very well cooked. So canned tomatoes are usually fine. And a few chilies in a curry or stir-fry or whatever are usually fine. As are things like paprika and chili powder. So, given that, I had hoped that the cooked, smoked, canned, and simmered chilies in this wouldn't cause him any problems. And, I think if it had just been one or two chipotles, it probably would have been fine. Unfortunatley, the recipe calls for an entire tin of them. I only ended up using ~2/3 of a tin. But that was still apparently too much and ended up setting off a bad reaction. So it wasn't exactly the greatest start to the trip. Whoops!

On the bright side, if you're not allergic to the ingredients, this is a very easy and relatively tasty chili to make. I mean, it's not the best chili ever. But it's very simple to put together, so it has a reasonably good effort-to-deliciousness ratio. My main complaint is that it's lacking in legumes and veggies. It's basically just a big pot of beef. Which is fine as far as it goes. But it means it doesn't really work well as a stand-alone dish like a more traditional bean-based chili might.

Beef-Chipotle Chili

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1.3kg stewing beef
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried oregano
• 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 onions, chopped
• 2 c. beef stock
• 1 (220g) can chipotles in adobo

Directions

1. Combine flour, salt, and pepper and dredge the beef in it.
2. Heat the oil over medium heat (sauté medium) in the InstantPot.
3. Working in two batches, sear the beef on all sides.
4. Remove beef from pot, sprinkle with oregano, and set aside.
5. Add the garlic and all but 1/2 c. of the onion to the now-empty pot and cook for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add the broth and chilies (including all of the sauce).
7. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom.
8. Return beef to pot, cover, and slow cook in medium for 6-8 hours (or high for 3-4 hours).
9. Sprinkle with remaining onion and serve.

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¹ I originally made it back in April. ^Back

I took this recipe as more of a suggestion/inspiration than actual instructions. Because, as written, it was completely insane! First off, recipe-as-written, it called for no cheese. And, I'm sorry, if it doesn't have cheese, it's not a pizza, it's just a vegetable-topped flatbread. Secondly, it called for white button mushrooms rather than cremini or oyster or something with a bit more flavour. And finally, they had you relegate each of the four toppings to its own quadrant. So, you could have mushrooms or peppers or artichockes or olives, but there was no way to get all of the above without eating four separate slices of pizza. Which is completely bonkers!

TF and I took one look at the recipe and immediately decided to go off-script. We added a bunch of mozzarella cheese and also increased the topping quantities slightly and put all four toppings on the whole pizza rather than doing that weird quadrant thing. And, having done that, it was pretty good!

Mushroom, Bell Pepper, Artichoke, and Olive Pizza

Adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 450g whole wheat pizza dough
• 1/2 c. pizza sauce
• 1 c. grated mozzarella
• 1 roasted red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 3-4 cremini or oyster mushrooms, sliced
• 2-3 marinated artichoke hearts, sliced
• 8-10 black or kalamata olives, sliced
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat to 290°C (550°F) or the highest temperature it will go.
2. Roll out pizza dough into a 35cm (14") circle.
3. Dust a pizza peel with cornmeal and place the pizza crust on top.
4. Spread pizza sauce over dough (leaving a 1cm border).
5. Top with mozzarella.
6. Sprinkle with bell pepper, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and olives.
7. Quickly slide pizze onto preheated pizza stone and bake until crust is crisp and cheese is bubbling (~8 minutes).
8. Remove from oven, sprinkle with basil, slice, and serve.

I will say right off that this bread didn't go quite to plan. I made the dough, let it ferment for a few hours, then decided that it wasn't ready for shaping yet and put it down in the cold room for the night. Which would have been fine... had I remembered it in the morning. But I completely forgot about it down there and didn't think of it again until nearly dinnertime the next day. By which point it had climbed nearly to the top of the bowl and was a bit overfermented and somewhat less structured than one might hope. Possibly I could have built the structure up a bit more with some additional coil folds. But, by that point, I just wanted to get it into the oven and be done with it. So I just rounded it, shaped it, gave it a (relatively) quick final rise, baked it off, and called it a day!

So, part of the problem was my own lack of organization. That said, I also question the baking instructions for this one. The recipe calls for baking the loaves at 250°C (475°F) for 25 minutes and then giving them another 20 minutes at 230°C (450°F). That seemed like way too long at way too high a temperature to me. I'm used to giving sourdoughs 10-15 minutes at 230-250°C (450-475&dge;F), followed by another 20-30 minutes in the 160-200°C (325-400°F) range. Their recommended times and temperatures seemed a bit nuts to me.

I actually did start my loaves out at 250°C (475°F) for 15 minutes. But, after that first 15 minutes, the loaves were already getting pretty dark. My instinct at that point would normally be to drop the temperature down to 180°C (350°F), but, since this recipe still called for another 10 minutes at 250°C (475°F), I decided to split the difference and drop it down to 220°C (425°F) for the next 10 minutes. By the time it had reached the end of its first 25 minutes of baking the crust was very dark indeed and on the verge of being burnt. But the interior of the bread was still clearly not remotely cooked. So, at that point, to prevent the crust from turning to charcoal, I dropped the temperature all the way down to 160°C (325°F) and baked it for the remaining 20 minutes.

In retrospect, I think my standard 15 minutes at 230°C (450°F) followed by 20 minutes at 180°C (350°F) with a possible 5-10 minutes of "curing" in the hot oven would have been just fine. Oh well... At least now I know.

Sesame Sourdough

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 50g ripe (fed) sourdough starter @ 100% hydration
• 550g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• 380g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour
• 23g (3 1/2 tsp.) coarse sea salt
• 200g sesame seeds, divided
• 745g water
• 1 Tbsp. honey

Directions

1. Make sure your starter is good and active.
2. Combine the starter, white flour, whole wheat flour, salt, 95g of the sesame seeds, water, and honey and mix well.
3. The dough should be fairly wet and loose. Use a bowl scraper and/or your hand to work it against the side of the bowl and do several bowl folds.
4. Cover and allow to ferment at room temperature for 6-12 hours, doing at least four bowl folds during this time.
5. Once dough is puffy and well-risen, knock it back and turn out onto a well-floured surface.
6. Divide into two equal portions and round each one.
7. Cover and allow to rest for 10-20 minutes.
8. Lightly flour two bannetons (preferably with rice flour).
9. Spread ~1/2 of the remaining sesame seed on the work surface.
10. Flip one of the dough balls smooth-side down onto the sesame seeds and press it flat.
11. Shape your loaf by doing a letter fold followed by rolling it up, jelly-roll-style.
12. Place the loaf, seam-side-up, into one of the bannetons.
13. Repeat shaping process with remaining sesame seeds and dough.
14. Cover and proof at room temperature for 1-4 hours.
15. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
16. Boil some water and grease a baking sheet and dust it with cornmeal while the oven preheats.
17. Turn the loaves out onto the prepared baking sheet and slash as desired.
18. Pour some boiling water into a large pan and place it on the bottom oven rack.
19. Put the loaves in the oven on the rack above the water pan and bake at 230°C (450°F) for 15 minutes.
20. Remove water pan, reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and continue baking for another 20-25 minutes.
21. Turn off oven and let loaves stand in hot oven for 5-10 minutes.
22. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

These were meant to be done on the grill. And if I'd actually made them in July like the date on this post implies, I almost certainly would have done that. Unfortunately, I actually made these on a cold, wet, grey day in November. When the sun had already set by 5pm. So, I wasn't about to go out there and fire up the grill for that. I just popped them under the broiler in the oven and cooked them that way. Not quite as nice a result, but infinitely better cooking experience given the conditions outside.

Recipe as written, these kebabs were only meant to have chicken, tomatoes, and zucchini. I had some mushrooms left over from another recipe though and I felt like a bit of onion would go well, so I added both to my kebabs. I think red onion would have been even better, but the yellow onion worked just fine. And I definitely feel like the extra ingredients elevated these kebabs a bit. I enjoyed the slightly more varied mix of tastes and textures.

Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 1/2 c. chopped green onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 680g skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
• 2 zucchinis, thickly sliced
• ~2 dozen cherry tomatoes¹
• 200-250g cremini mushrooms, trimmed
• 1 1/2 small red onions, cut into eighths

Directions

1. Combine yogurt, green onion, garlic, cilantro, oil, salt, and pepper and mix well.
2. Add chicken and toss to coat.
3. Cover and chill for 3-24 hours.
4. Soak ~12 wooden skewers in water for 20-30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, preheat grill for direct, high heat cooking.
6. Thread zucchini slices, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion pieces, and chicken chunks onto the skeweres in whatever arrangement you prefer.
7. Slather the kebabs with any residual marinade and season with a bit of extra pepper.
8. Grill, turning as needed, until vegetables are tender and chicken is cooked through²

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¹ The cherry tomatoes at the grocery store didn't look that great, so I got a bunch of much larger "cocktail" tomatoes and just cut them in half for my kebabs. ^Back
2 The book says this should take ~8 minutes. I'm unclear on whether that's meant to be 8 minutes total or 8 minutes per side. I suspect, with a good hot grill, you could get these cooked in 8 minutes total. Unfortunately, I was not wooking with a good hot grill. I was working with a broiler. I ended up cooking my kebabs for ~20 minutes, turning every 5. The results were great! Just a bit slower than on the grill. ^Back

Uppama (Spiced Cream of Wheat)

This recipe has been staring at me from the pages of 660 Curries for years. I kept telling myself that I'd try it... sometime, but I never quite managed it.

I'd never tried cream of wheat before, but I've heard jokes about its awfulness as a breakfast porridge. Those attitudes made me somewhat reluctant to give it a go. And then, on top of that, I'm supposed to add all of these spices and vegetables?! I wasn't convinced that would be a winning combo.

However, Iyer has once again proved me wrong! This was great! TF actually said it was a favourite for her. And, while I don't think it rose to quite that level for me, I did enjoy it a great deal.

I appreciate that this dish makes a relatively quick and easy substrate that actually incorporates a few veggies. Not a lot to be sure, but at least it's something!

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Uppama

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1/4 c. raw cashews
• 1 Tbsp. skinned split black lentils (mapte beans/urad dal)
• 6 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies, stems removed
• 2 c. frozen green peas
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 c. water
• 12 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 4 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies, halved lengthwise
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 c. non-instant cream of wheat (sooji)

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
3. Add the cashews, lentils, and dried chilies and stir-fry until the chilies blacken (1-2 minutes).
4. Add the peas and turmeric and stir to coat.
5. Add the water and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to medium and stir in the curry leaves, salt, fresh chilies, and cilantro.
7. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in cream of wheat.
8. Cover and cook until the grains swell up (~5 minutes).
9. Fluff with a fork and serve.

We had a big crêpe buffet for brunch this morning. I had lots of different fillings available, but I felt like some sort of savoury sauce was in order. I was also thinking that some sautéed mushrooms would be good. So I went looking for recipes for mushroom sauce and found this one. It's a great sauce! Everyone loved it.

Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Slightly adapted from Havoc in the Kitchen

Ingredients

• 5g dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 c. hot water
• 450g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 Tbsp. smoked paprika
• 1/8 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies
• 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning¹
• 1/2 c. cream cheese

Directions

1. Pour the hot water over the dried mushrooms and set aside to soak for 15-30 minutes.
2. Rinse the cremini mushrooms well, trim, and slice.
3. Add the sliced mushrooms and a splash of the porcini soaking water to a large pan and cook, covered, over medium heat until mushrooms release their juices.
4. Uncover and continue cooking until most of the water has evaporated.
5. Add the butter, oil, onion, and garlic and cook for another 5-8 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, drain the porcinis and reserve the liquid.
7. Chop the porcinis and add them to the pan along with the salt, smoked paprika, Kashmiri chilies, and herbs.
8. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, then add the porcini soaking water (strained to remove any grit if necessary) along with the cream cheese.
9. Cook, stirring, until cheese has melted and sauce thickens slightly.

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¹ I used up all of my Italian seasoning a few months ago and I don't use it often enough to really justify keeping it on hand these days, so I just threw in a mix of herbs to approximate it.

We had TM over for a big crêpe buffet this morning. I put out tonnes of different toppings and fillings and then just made a giant stack of cr&ecric;pes and let everyone assemble their own.

I have a few good crêpe recipes already, but I wanted to be able to tick off the one from the Breakfast Bible, so I used that. I've included both the batter recipe and a list of the various toppings and fillings below. I've a few extra things in the list that weren't part of my spread yesterday. Those items are marked with an asterisk.

Crêpe Buffet

Adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Crêpes

• 2 c. milk
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted

Sweet Toppings/Fillings

• jam
• marmalade
• almond butter (and/or other nut butters)
• Nutella
• Greek yogurt
• whipped cream
• ricotta
• blackberries (and/or other fresh berries)
• nectarine, thinly sliced
• apple, thinly sliced
• pear, thinly sliced
• banana*, sliced
• maple syrup

Savoury Toppings/Fillings

• baby spinach
• green onion, sliced
• tomato, thinly sliced
• pickles
• red onion*, thinly sliced
• smoked salmon*
• capers*
• ham
• bacon
• smoked turkey
• sour cream*
• cream cheese*
• cheddar
• gruyère
• brie
• scrambled egg
• salsa*
• mushroom sauce
• Roman mustard

Directions

1. Combine the milk, flour, salt, and eggs in a blender and purée until mixed.
2. With blender running, drizzle in the melted butter.
3. Transfer to fridge and chill for at least an hour and up to 24 hours.
4. When ready, cook your crêpes by your preferred method. I like to pour ~1/4 of batter into a hot tawa and then quickly lift the pan up and tilt it to get the batter spread as thinly and evenly as possible over the bottom. Cook until just barely browned, flip, and allow to just barely brown on the other side.
5. Serve crêpes with toppings and fillings of your choice.

In the Breakfast Bible, there is a section dedicated to pancakes, waffles, and crêpes. McMillan gives three basic recipes for each (usually plain, whole wheat, and gluten-free) and then provides suggested combinations of mix-ins with a separate list of suggested combinations of toppings. This allows you to mix-and-match your breakfast concoctions.

I debated whether I wanted to write those recipes up the same way. Providing the lists of mix-ins at the bottom or variants as separate recipes included in the same post. In the end though, I decided that I liked the idea of picking a set of mix-ins, pairing it with a set of toppings, selecting a base, and then writing each of those up as their own post.

For these chocolate-strawberry pancakes, I used the whole wheat pancake batter as my foundation and then added in some chopped strawberries and dark chocolate. We then topped them with a combination of more strawberries, maple syrup, whipped cream, and shaved dark chocolate.

Chocolate-Strawberry Pancakes

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. quick oats
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 c. buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 120g dark chocolate, 90g chopped, 30g shaved
• 450g strawberries, 120g chopped, 330g quartered
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 Tbsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• maple syrup, to taste

Directions

1. Combine the flours, oats, sugar, and salt.
2. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
3. Beat the eggs with the buttermilk.
4. Drizzle the butter into the buttermilk mixture, whisking to blend.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
6. Mix in the chopped chocolate and chopped strawberries.
7. Preheat a griddle or large pan over medium heat and grease as necessary.
8. Pour some batter into the pan. (Use ~1/4 c. for smallish pancakes or 1/2 c. for large ones.)
9. Cook until sides start to look dry, then flip and cook until nicely browned on both sides and cooked through. Repeat with remaining batter.
10. Meanwhile, beat the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla extract until stiff.
11. When the pancakes are done, dish them up and top with the quartered strawberries, maple syrup, whipped cream, and shaved chocolate.

Palak Urad Dal (Spinach and Split Black Lentil Curry)

I've been in a bit of a meal planning rut lately. And, as so often happens when I'm struggling to plan and execute meals, I turned to our trusty copy of 660 Curries for comfort and inspiration.

With the help of some frozen spinach, I was able to make this simple dal entirely from ingredients we already had on hand. It didn't take too much thought or effort. And the inclusion of both legumes and leafy greens means that it's reasonably nutritionally complete as well.

I managed to make a basic tomato biryani and a quick papad and yogurt curry to accompany it and that made for a very nice dinner. The dal itself was not a stand-out flavour-wise, but it did at least give us something to hang the rest of the meal off of.

Palak Urad Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. skinned split black lentils (mapte beans/urad dal)
• 4 c. water
• 450g chopped spinach
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds
• 5-6 cloves garlic
• 4 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies, stems removed
• 2-3 slices fresh ginger (5cm x 2cm x 3mm)
• 2 Tbsp. ghee¹
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Rinse the lentils well.
2. Drain and add the 4 c. of water to the lentils.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Discard and foam that forms on the surface of the water, then add the spinach and turmeric.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender (20-25 minutes).
6. Meanwhile, add the fenugreek seeds, garlic, chilies, and ginger to a molcajete and grind into a slightly gritty paste.
7. Melt the ghee over medium-high heat.
8. Add the cumin seeds and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
9. Add the paste from the molcajete and cook until browned (~2 minutes).
10. When the lentils are cooked, add the fried paste mixture to the dal along with the cilantro and salt and simmer, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes.

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¹ If you need to make this curry vegan, try swapping out the ghee for oil. Personally, I would probably default to either coconut or mustard oil, but a neutral option like canola, corn, or peanut would also work. ^Back

Tamatar Biryani (Tomato Biryani)

I keep skipping over this simple biryani because it isn't very nutritionally complete on its own. It's basically just rice and tomatoes, so it really needs to be served with some other curries to round out the meal. Luckily, I was feeling up for making a couple other curries today, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to finally check this one off.

I tried to do it in the InstantPot as it seemed like it should work well and make life a little easier. Unfortunately, every time the pot tried to get up to pressure, it'd give a "burn" notice and I'd have to stop it, scrape up all the stuck on bits that were starting to burn on the bottom, add a bit more liquid, and start again. Next time I'll just do it on the stovetop and hope that that works better.

Tamatar Biryani

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. white basmati rice¹
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1/4 tsp. whole cloves
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 2 cinnamon sticks (~7cm long)
• 2 blades mace
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 1 tsp. ginger paste
• 4-5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2-3 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies, halved lengthwise
• 1 small (~400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Rinse the rice, drain, then cover with fresh water and let stand at room temperature for ~30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, melt the ghee over medium-high heat.
3. Add the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and mace and sizzle for 30-60 seconds.
4. Add the onion and stir-fry for 5-7 minutes.
5. Add the ginger, garlic, and chilies and cook for another minute or so.
6. Add the tomatoes, salt, and turmeric and simmer, uncovered, for ~5 minutes.
7. Drain the rice and add it, tossing to coat.
8. Add the water, stir once or twice, and bring to a boil.
9. Cook (without stirring) until water has evaporated from the surface and craters appear in the rice (5-8 minutes).
10. Stir once, cover, and reduce heat to low.
11. Cook on low for another 8-10 minutes.
12. Turn off the heat and allow the rice to sit on the hot burner, still covered and undisturbed, for another 10 minutes.
13. Uncover, fluff with a fork, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve.

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¹ I actually think this would be really nice with brown basmati, but, of course, that would require making adjustments to the liquid quantities and cooking times. Which is doable, I just don't have the wherewithal to figured out the changes right now. Something for next time perhaps... ^Back

Dhingri Josh (Mushroom Curry)

Mushrooms were on sale this week, so I decided to give this delicious-sounding mushroom curry a try. It looked and smelled absolutely delicious as it was cooking. TF and I were both stoked to try it.

Sadly, I think the black cumin and black cardamom were a bit overpowering for us. It was still a good curry, but it came out much more dark and bitter than I ideally would have liked. Drizzling a bit of sonth on top did help balance out the flavours, but I think I'd like it better with a bit less of the dark stuff in next time. The recipe below reflects this.

Dhingri Josh

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. mustard oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp. black cumin seeds
• 2 black cardamom pods
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 cinnamon sticks (~7cm long)
• 2 dried red Thai, arbol, or cayenne chilies
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1 small (~400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. water, divided
• 225g cremini mushrooms, quartered
• 1/2 tsp. Punjabi garam masala
• 1 c. chopped fresh chives

Directoins

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the cumin, black cumin, cardamom, bay leaves, cinnamon, and whole dried chilies and sizzle for 15-30 seconds.
3. Add the onion and stir-fry for 5 minutes.
4. Add the ginger paste and garlic paste and stir-fry for another 30-60 seconds.
5. Add the tomatoes, ground chilies, and salt.
6. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has been cooked off (~10 minutes).
7. Add 1/2 c. of the water and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been absorbed/cooked off again (~10 more minutes).
8. Add the mushrooms and the remaining 1/2 c. water and cover, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender (~10 minutes again).
9. Remove from heat and stir in the garam masala and chives.

We're all out of cottage cheese and I haven't had a chance to make any more bread yet, so I was at a bit of a loss as to what to make for breakfast.

Luckily we still had some sour cream left in the fridge and I'd gotten a small package of smoked salmon on sale last week. And with the dried chives in the pantry and the neverending supply of eggs from the chickens, that gave me everything I needed to make these simple but special-feeling scrambled eggs.

Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 8 large eggs
• 2-4 Tbsp. milk
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 150g smoked salmon, chopped
• 2-3 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
• 1/2 c. sour cream or crème fra&icric;che
• 1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest

Directions

1. Melt the butter over medium-low heat.
2. Beat the eggs with the milk and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and allow to cook for a minute or two without stirring.
4. Gently stir the eggs and allow to cook until nearly set (another 2-4 minutes).
5. Stir in the smoked salmon and chives and cook for a minute or so longer.
6. Serve topped with sour cream/crème fra&icric;che and lemon zest.

Papad aur Dahi ki Kadhi (Papad and Yogurt Curry)

I have not been great with the meal planning lately. (Or the grocery shopping. Or staying on top of these write-ups.) I needed something quick and easy for dinner the other day. I'd already settled on making a tomato biryani and a spinach and black lentil dal. But I felt like the meal could use one more dish to round it out. And this papad and yogurt curry lookd pleasingly simple to put together.

I was a bit wary as the previous curry that I made that called for adding broken, uncooked, papads was kind of... meh. But this one was actually really nice. TF and I agreed that it was our favourite of the three dishes that night. Sadly the Kidlet didn't like it, but oh well... you can't please 'em all!

Papad aur Kahi ki Kadhi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. plain yogurt¹
• 1 c. water
• 1 Tbsp. chickpea flour (besan)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 4 slices fresh ginger (5cm x 2cm x 3mm)
• 2 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies, minced
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds, 1 tsp. whole, 1 tsp. ground
• 2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1/4 tsp. ground asafetida
• 3-4 uncooked papads (papadums/lentil wafers), broken into bite-sized pieces
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine the yogurt, water, flour, salt, ginger, and chilies, and mix well.
2. Melt the ghee over medium-high heat.
3. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping.
4. Remove from heat and add the whole cumin, ground cumin, coriander, and asafetida.
5. Allow to sizzle in the hot ghee for a few seconds, then pour in yogurt mixture and return to heat.
6. Add the broken papads and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened (~5 minutes).
7. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

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¹ The recipe doesn't call for it, but I chose to use Greek yogurt here and I really like how it came out. ^Back

Nariyal Hare Phool Gobhi (Broccoli-Coconut Curry)

I forgot to tweak our produce basket last week, so we ended up with a bunch of surprise veggies, including a head of broccoli. Conveniently, this curry doesn't need much else besides broccoli to go into it. And it made a convenient veggie dish to go along with the leftover spaghetti from the previous day.

Photo goes here.

Nariyal Hare Phool Gobhi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 450g broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. sambhar masala
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. shredded fresh coconut or 1/2 c. shredded dried coconut, rehydrated

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add cumin seeds and sizzle for 15-30 seconds.
3. Add ginger paste and cook for another 30-60 seconds.
4. Add the broccoli, salt, and sambhar masala and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
5. Add the water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until broccoli is fork tender (~8 minutes).
6. Add the coconut and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Laurel's Kitchen is generally my go-to for pizza dough. It's fantastic! The texture and flavour are always wonderful, it bakes up beautifully, and it's 100% whole wheat! And, honestly, I would have used it again today -- without a moment's hesitation -- except that my sourdough starter was looking mighty hungry and I really needed an excuse to use it. So I went poking through the King Arthur Flour to look for a soudough pizza crust recipe instead.

This recipe is more of a "faux" sourdough. It uses a combination of sourdough discard and commercial yeast. I definitely don't like it as well as the Laruel's Kitchen version. But it was easy to throw together, used up sourdough starter, and got the job done. So no complaints here. And, I will grant that it was very easy to work with. It just didn't have quite as nice a texture as my usual crust. (Although part of that may have been just how emaciated my starter was and a lack of adequate rising time.) Either way, it still worked well. We had pizza for dinner. Everyone was happy.

Faux Sourdough Pizza Dough

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 300g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3/4 tsp. instant yeast (or 1 tsp. active dry yeast)
• 250g sourdough discard @ 100% hydration
• 140g warm water

Directions

1. Combine flour, salt, and yeast and mix well.
2. Pour in sourdough discard and water.
3. Work dry ingredients into wet by hand or by dough hook.
4. Knead (by hook or by hand) until smooth and elastic. Add a little more flour or water as necessary to get a relatively soft, supple dough. (Knead for 15-20 minutes by hand or 3-4 minutes by hook).
5. Cover and set aside to rise for 2-4 hours.
6. Knock the dough back, divide into two equal portions, and round each one.
7. Cover and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.
8. Working with one portion of dough at a time, stretch or roll out into desired shape.
9. Cover and allow to rise for 15-20 minutes.
10. Top and bake as desired.

I was not overly impressed with this salad/side. It sounded interesting, but it just didn't deliver. It wasn't awful, it just wasn't very appealing. It was one of those only-if-there's-nothing-else-to-eat sort of dishes. So, not one I'm likely to revisit. But at least now I know.

Celery Root Rémoulade

From Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 (~680g) celery root (celeriac)
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. Dijon or Roman mustard
• 3 Tbsp. boiling water
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 3-4 Tbsp. minced fresh chives

Directions

1. Trim the ends of the celery root, peel it, use a mandoline to cut into thin slices and then cut the slices into matchsticks (julienne).
2. Toss the celery root with the lemon juice and salt. Let stand for ~30 minutes.
3. Rinse the celery root, drain, and pat dry.
4. Use some hot water to warm a heatproof bowl, then empty it and dry it off.
5. Put the mustard in the warm bowl and slowly drizzle in the boiling water while whisking.
6. Whisking vigorously, slowly drizzle in the olive oil.
7. Whisk in the vinegar.
8. Add the celery root and toss to coat.
9. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours.
10. Sprinkle with chives and serve.

I made these ages ago. Way back in April, I think. They went over super well and everyone loved them. But things were pretty hectic and I never did get around to doing the write-up for it. So, finally, here it is!

Cucumber Toasts with Radishes

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 125g cream cheese, softened
• 60g feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 slices bread (preferably whole wheat), toasted
• 1/2 English cucumber, thinly sliced
• 2 radishes, thinly sliced
• 1/4 c. broccoli sprouts¹

Directions

1. Combine cream cheese, feta cheese, green onion, and garlic and mix well.
2. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Spread the cheese mixture over the toast.
4. Top with cucumber, radishes, and sprouts.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

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¹ The recipe calls for alfalfa "or other" sprouts. And I had some lovely fresh broccoli sprouts from Noki Farms, so I opted to use those. I think the slight spiciness of the sprouts complemented the radishes nicely! ^Back

While this is meant to be burnt caramel sauce, I, unfortunately, made mine a little too burnt. TF and I still found it edible (if not ideal). But the Kidlet reacted with revulsion and said it was vile.

I'm so mad at myself for overcooking it. It was perfect. And then I had a moment of indecision when getting out the cream. And that extra 30 seconds or so seems to have made all the difference. Oh well... Bex and I will still eat it. It's just a shame that it's not as good as it could have been.

Burnt Caramel Sauce

Slightly adapted from Waffles: Sweet, Savory, Simple by Dawn Yanagihara

Ingredients

• 1 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Bring the sugar and water to a vigorous simmer over medium-high heat.
2. You may stir once or twice with a clean spoon to help the sugar dissolve. Once the sugar has dissolved, DO NOT stir! Just shake and swirl the pan occasionally instead.
3. Cook until sugar takes on a rich, dark colour (~10 minutes).
4. Remove from heat and carefully pour in cream.
5. Return pot to medium-low heat and stir until sugar dissolves again.
6. Remove from heat and stir in butter, vanilla, and salt.
7. Serve warm.

Buttermilk Whole Wheat Bread (Bernard Clayton)

I've made the Laurel's Kitchen buttermilk bread several times before. It's one of my favourites. This is Bernard Clayton's version of a whole wheat buttermilk bread. Unfortunately, I made it a while ago and then consistently failed to get around to writing up the recipe, so I don't remember much about it. I don't think it stood out as being either particularly good or bad. But that's fine. I've made a lot of different breads over the years. They can't all be stand-outs!

This is an interesting recipe. It uses a both yeast and chemical leaveners and requires only one rise.

Clayton recommends baking this as either one large or two small pan loaves and I honestly don't remember which I did. Looking at the recipe, I feel like it would be pretty skimpy for two loaves, even small ones. So, I'm going to recommend baking it in one large (23x12cm) pan.

Update: I found a photo! I'm pretty sure this is a photo of this bread. In which case, it looks like I did one small loaf and a few dinner rolls.

Buttermilk Whole Wheat Bread

From Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 tsp. active dry (or 3 1/4 tsp. instant) yeast
• 3/4 c. warm water (~40°C)
• 1 1/4 c. buttermilk, room temperature
• ~180g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• ~400g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour, divided
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter or lard
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar or molasses
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. If using traditional active dry yeast, sprinkle it over the warm water and set aside for 10-15 minutes. (You can measure out the buttermilk and leave it to warm up during this time.)
   If using instant yeast, it may be mixed directly with the dry ingredients and you may skip this step.
2. Add the buttermilk, white flour, and ~100g of the whole wheat flour to the yeast mixture and beat (either by hand or by machine) for a minute or so.
3. Mix in the fat, sugar, and salt.
4. Sift in the baking powder and mix well.
5. Beat in additional whole wheat flour ~60g at a time.
6. When it becomes stiff, set aside for 5 minutes to allow the wheat bran to absorb more liquid.
7. The dough should be sticky and soft, but if it's too unmanageable, work in a bit more flour by hand.
8. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead with the assistance of a bench/bowl scraper. (It will be too soft to work completely by hand.) Knead for 15-20 minutes.
   Alternatively, use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook to knead it for ~5 minutes.
9. Round and rest for 5-10 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, grease a 23x12cm (9x5") loaf pan.
11. Shape loaf as desired and place it, seam-side-down, into the prepared pan. Press the dough into the corners of the pan.
12. Cover and set aside to rise at room temperature for ~1 hour.
13. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
14. Bake at 220°C (425°F) until done (~30 minutes).
15. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.

I've been vibing with waffles lately, but still trying to make something a bit different every time. For this iteration, I decided to go with the whole wheat waffle recipe from the Breakfast Bible and try the suggested orange and thyme inclusions as I figured they'd be a nice complement to the apples and cheddar. I think this would be even better with some fresh lemon thyme, but regular dried thyme works okay in a pinch. I also think a few walnuts would be excellent folded into the batter. I didn't use any this time, but, having tasted it, I would definitely add them next time.

Orange-Thyme Whole Wheat Waffles with Apple and Cheddar

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 200g whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon thyme (or 1 tsp. dried thyme)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• 2 large eggs
• grated zest of 1 orange
• 2 Tbsp. orange juice
• 90g unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
• 3/4 c. grated Cheddar cheese
• 3 apples, cored and sliced

Directions

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and thyme and mix well.
3. Sift in the baking powder and stir to combine.
4. Beat the eggs with the milk.
5. Mix the orange zest, juice, and butter to the wet ingredeints and mix well.
6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to mix.
7. Add the walnuts (if using) and stir until just combined.
8. Pour a portion of batter into the waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer directions. Repeat with remaining batter.
9. Top waffles with cheese and apple slices.